


Hourglass

by bfrizzz



Category: Demi Lovato (Musician), Jonas Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/M, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-27
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2017-12-21 12:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/900066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfrizzz/pseuds/bfrizzz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Demi Lovato is a camp counselor, Nick Jonas and his family go camping, and Kevin's daughter brings them both together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saturday/Sunday

Nick had been at this camp countless times; he knew the area like the back of his hand. His family had been coming here all his twenty one years of life – his mom even camped when she was pregnant with him - and it was still his favorite time of the year when, every summer, they would go and stay a week at Camp Waterbrook. The camp included activities such as sports, crafts, swimming, and trails and one could walk or ride through. Nick loved it all and this year he expected it to be even more fun because his oldest niece, Sophie – Kevin’s oldest kid – was at an age where she could enjoy all the stuff that Nick used to love doing when he was her age. He couldn’t wait to show her all the parks he used to play on and take her fishing. Kevin’s other child, Paul, was two so he wasn’t able to enjoy camp in the same way that Sophie would. Kevin would probably be spending a lot of time taking care of him since Dani was pregnant again with their third child.

There were four different places and ways to camp at Waterbrook: cabins, resort cabins (these ones came with their own bathrooms while every other camp site had to go to the community bathrooms), areas where people could park their RVs or have their own tents, or tents. The Jonas family always rented out the tents. As their family grew they’ve had to rent more each year. This year they had three tents: one for their parents and Frankie, another for Kevin and his family, and the last one for the other two Jonas boys to share plus Joe’s girlfriend Blanda. The tents they stayed in were not the normal nylon tents that were propped up by plastic sticks. These were wooden frames with screens on a cement slab that contained two single beds and two sets of bunk beds. The tent area also included a cabana complete with a stove stop and fridge and a picnic table.

For the past three days, Nick had done nothing but count down the hours until he’d finally be on Waterbrook soil. His work days seemed to drag on and whenever he was home he devoted his time to packing. Finally, June 28th rolled around and the Jonas family was off to Camp. Nick had to carpool with Joe and Blanda where they discussed how there would be no hooking up – Joe politely reminded Nick that their parents’ tent had plenty of extra beds to sleep on if he and his girlfriend got in the mood – and sang along to every song that came on shuffle.

They pulled up and Nick smiled as Sophie came running towards the car followed by Kevin shouting at her to watch where she was going. “Uncle Nicky, Uncle Joey!” She exclaimed as she waited for them to open their cars doors so she could give them the biggest hug a five – almost six – year old could give.

Nick was the first one out of the car and instantly wrapped the toddler in his muscular arms. “I’m gonna squeeze the fart out of you!” He joking exclaimed as he squeezed Sophie a little tighter.

“Oh no!” She said through a laugh.

Nick let his niece go when Joe and Blanda got out of the car so that she could greet them, and he began unpacking the car.

“Are you going to the meet and greet games tonight, Uncle Nicky?” Sophie asked after she had hugged both Joe and Blanda.

Nick grunted as he set down the heavy suitcase (that he later found out was Joe’s surprisingly). “I probably won’t, sweetie. I still have to help Joe unpack and I’m pretty tired.” Seeing his niece frown broke his heart, so he ruffled his hand through her long brown hair. “But I promise I’ll take you to arts and crafts tomorrow.” Nick offered with a smile.

Sophie’s face lit up at Nick’s words and she gave him another hug. She cheered and then ran outside to share with her parents the good news. Nick laughed when he heard her excited voice shout throughout the campsite.

Joe and Nick unloaded a few more bins when Kevin walked up to them. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to join us at the meet and greet games? You know they’re a blast. Besides, you haven’t missed one in years!” Kevin explained.

“You mean Nick hasn’t missed one in years. He’s 21 and he still does all these camp activities.” Joe teased with a nudge to his younger brother.

“It’s the perfect way to meet people.” Nick defended.

“Yeah, if you want to meet five years olds and be seen as a pedophile, then it’s perfect.” Joe replied with a smirk. This remark got a laugh out of Kevin.

“Older people go there too.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Kevin stated.

“Come on, Daddy! We’re gonna be late!” Sophie said tugging on the bottom of her dad’s shirt.

“Alright, alright, let’s go.” Kevin said. The oldest Jonas took a hold of his daughter’s hand and the two began to walk to the meet and greet games.

There was a brief period of silence as Nick and Joe straightened up their tent. Blanda must’ve been out talking to Mrs. Jonas and Danielle, leaving the hard work for Joe and Nick. Joe even made a joke about it to break the silence, and then his face grew serious. “Are you really going to try and find someone here?”

Nick looked away from the bed he was making and raised an eyebrow at his brother.

“It’s just..” Joe took a breath. “It’s been a year since you and Georgia broke up.”

Nick glanced back down at his half made bed and nodded. His thoughts went back to those three years he and Georgia had spent together until she ended it last summer. Nick had caught her cheating on him and, being still so in love with her, he was willing to give her another chance but she wasn’t interested anymore. Camp Waterbrook was the only thing to bring him out of his funk that summer. “I know that, Joe.”

“You need to get back out there.”

He wanted to talk about anything beside this, so Nick forced a smile and looked at his brother once more. “That’s what I plan to do this summer.”

Joe lightly slapped Nick’s back. “Good.”

“Uncle Nicky, get up! You promised to take me to arts and crafts today!”

The excitement of the five year old woke Nick up the next morning and he wished Sophie had a mute button. Since it was their first night at camp, Joe and Nick had a little too much to drink the night before and now Nick’s head felt as if someone was smashing it with one of his prized Gibson guitars, so being woken up way before he had intended to by his shrieking niece was not the way he wanted this day to start off.

“Five more minutes.” Nick mumbled, rolling over in his bed to get comfortable again.

Suddenly he felt the weight on his bed shift and he opened his eyes to find Sophie on the foot of the bed.

“Don’t you dare jump.” Nick stated.

Judging by the smirk on Sophie’s face, she took that as a challenge. She slowly stood up and Nick couldn’t help by laugh. She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew Nick didn’t want her to jump, so she was probably figuring that he’d get up if she threatened to do so. Even though she was five, she was very clever – and devious.

“Sophie, don’t.” Nick reminded her as he sat up a bit from the bed ready to catch her if she dared jump. He wasn’t sure these beds could handle the weight of him and his niece that was about to start bouncing up and down if he didn’t stop her.

“Then get up.” She demanded.

“Okay, okay, I’m up. Now get out so I can get dressed.” Nick replied pointing at the creaky screen door.

The five year old obeyed and Nick, after rubbing his hands over his face, stood from the bed to get ready for this day that he really wasn’t looking forward too. All he desired to do was to lie down and sleep this hangover off.

“I thought the tent was locked.” Nick heard Joe groan.

“She must’ve figured out how to flick the hook out of the hole. I mean, it’s not high tech security here.” Nick replied throwing on a Mumford & Sons concert shirt over his head.

“Have fun doing arts and crafts.” Joe said. Even though he was still half asleep, Nick could hear the playful tone in Joe’s voice.

“Shut up or I’ll tell her you’re taking her tomorrow and then I’ll get you insanely drunk to where we’ll have to be pulling you out of the lake like two years ago.” Nick remarked.

“I hate you.” Joe quietly said and then Nick heard the bed shift, signaling that Joe was trying to go back to bed.

Shaking his head, Nick quietly laughed and continued getting ready. When he stepped out of the tent, he found Sophie sitting at their picnic table. “Ready to go?” He asked with a smile, which Sophie returned and the five year old nodded fast.

The little girl with brown eyes and curly hair – just like her dad – stood from the table and grabbed Nick’s calloused hand. Even though she wasn’t a toddler anymore Nick was still surprised by how small her hand was in his. He recalled the days when her hand was only small enough just to wrap around two of his fingers. Thinking about that, Nick bent down and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head.

Sophie looked up at her uncle with a puzzled look on her face. “What was that for?”

“I just love you.”

“Love you too, Uncle Nicky. Now let’s go! They’re making memory books today!” Sophie exclaimed as she tugged on Nick’s hand, and the two walked to the Rec Shelter hand in hand.

The Rec Shelter was a small pavilion with about ten picnic tables underneath that the staff painted differently every year. This summer they decided to dedicate a table to each theme of the week. Nick rushed himself and his niece over to the Halloween one and they took their seats. More people showed up as time passed and once the pavilion looked almost full, possibly the only guy camp counselor stood on one of the tables to grab everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone, listen. Over at this table,” the guy pointed over to the table he was talking about. “You get to pick out what two colors you want for the covers of your book. Then, Marissa will give you the papers that go inside. Then Demi will tie it off so that you have a book. Once it’s all put together you can decorate your cover with all the crayons and markers that are in the box on your table. We also have glitter and other decorative stuff if you want. Just ask either me, Marissa, or Demi. Have fun and let’s begin!” He clapped his hands and Nick watched everyone stand up from their tables.

Nick leaned his head down over to talk to his niece and mention that they should wait until the crowd died down, but she was already gone. He rolled his head and then followed Sophie to the growing line.

“Are you gonna make one too, Uncle Nicky?” Sophie asked, looking up at her uncle.

Nick shrugged. “I don’t know. Should I?”

“Do it do it do it do it.” Sophie started to chant repeatedly and even some of the other kids around her joined her.

“Alright alright, I’ll make one. Maybe I’ll use Yankees colors for my book.”

“Cool, I’m gonna use pink and purple.” Sophie noted as she reached for said colored construction paper when they reached the arts and crafts table. She then handed Nick Yankee colored construction paper for his book and then they moved over to the next station at the table where a brunette counselor sat.

Sophie nudged Nick because she was too shy to speak to the camp counselor in front of them. “Hi, the guy said we’d get the pages here so…” Nick trailed off and the girl handed him the papers he wanted – two sets for him and Sophie. As the moved along the table Nick opened his mouth to talk to the next camp counselor, another girl but with blonde hair, but he didn’t have to because he watched Sophie run up and hug this specific camp counselor.

“Demi!” She cheered as she wrapped her arms around the blonde. Nick’s eyes darted from his niece to the unfamiliar camp counselor and he looked at them with a confused expression.

“How do you…” He wasn’t even able to finish his question because he was so baffled. His niece was normally shy around strangers to where she’d be hiding behind the nearest familiar face and looking down at her shuffling feet. It was just like how Nick was when he was her age and even when he was a few years older.

“We met at the meet and greet games yesterday.” Demi answered Nick’s unfinished question with Sophie still in her arms.

“Demi, this is my uncle, Nicky.” Sophie introduced as she stepped away from Demi.

Demi’s face lit up. “Oh so you’re Uncle Nicky!”

Nick’s eyes widened. “How-“

“I was playing guitar yesterday at the games and Sophie couldn’t stop bragging about how everyone in her family knew how to play guitar but her uncle Nicky was the best of them all.” Demi cut him off with her explanation.

“Better than your dad?” Nick asked looking down at his niece. She nodded in response. “Good because I am.”

“Nice to see that you’re modest.” Demi sarcastically remarked and held out her hand. “Here, hand me your books and I’ll tie them off for you.” Nick did as she said. “I really like the colors you picked, Sophie.” Demi complimented with a smile at the five year old.

Sophie blushed when she thanked Demi, and the camp counselor returned their books to them, all tied up and ready to decorate. Nick escorted Sophie over to their previous picnic table and the two began coloring the covers and writing in the pages of their memory book; well more like Nick writing and Sophie coloring. Once Nick had finished filling out every part of Sophie’s book he handed it over to her for her to look at. As she skimmed through the pages, she stopped at the last one. “What’s this page for?”

“That’s for autographs. Here,” Nick picked up the nearest crayon and signed his name. “Now you have your first signature.”

“So people just write their names?”

“Pretty much.”

Sophie grabbed a purple crayon. “Let me autograph yours.”

“Okay.” Nick opened his memory book to that specific page and slid it over so that it was in front of Sophie and watched as she slowly wrote her name. She had just finished kindergarten which meant that she had just learned how to spell her name. Kevin once told Nick that she was writing it on everything: newspaper, napkins, and even the walls a couple of times.

Once her name was completely written Nick went to pick his book up but was stopped when he saw someone lean over Sophie and write in his book. It was Demi. “You know that’s my book, right?” He questioned the camp counselor.

“I know.” Even from the side Nick could see that Demi was smirking.

“Can you sign mine too, Demi?” Sophie asked, looking up at the counselor.

“Of course, Sophie.” Demi stood back and Sophie handed the older girl her memory book.

As Demi wrote in the back of Sophie’s craft, Nick grabbed his memory book and looked at the signature Demi had left. Underneath her name was a number. He looked up at Demi just as she was giving Sophie back her book. Noticing the look of confusion on Nick’s face, Demi smiled at him. “Maybe we could have a jam session some time while you’re at camp.” She suggested and then walked over to another picnic table to talk with other campers.

“You have to call her.” Joe stated after Sophie had announced to everyone that Nick had gotten a phone number at arts and crafts.

“See, this is what you miss when you don’t get up for arts and crafts.” Nick teased, patting his older brother’s shoulder. “You could’ve been there and seen how hot she was.”

“So you’re going to call her, right?” Kevin asked, baby Paul in hand, joining the conversation.

“Maybe.” Nick shrugged.

“Why not? You just said she was hot, so why wouldn’t you?” Joe questioned.

“Let me talk to her more tomorrow at arts and crafts and maybe I’ll call her after that.” Nick said.

Kevin rolled his eyes at his brother’s statement and went back to his tent since Danielle had just called for him.

“You told me you were going to date again this summer, Nick. Well, this is a pretty damn good start.” Joe said. It was now his turn to place a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Nick looked at the hand and then back to Joe’s face. “I know, just let me warm up to it.”

Joe pressed his lips together, removed his hand from Nick, and then went over to their cabana to grab a snack. “You’re only here for a week, Nick. You better make your move fast.”


	2. Monday

“Are you expecting to see that guy here today?” Demi heard Marissa ask her as the two of them prepared the supplies for that morning’s arts and crafts.  
“What guy?” Demi asked nonchalantly. She enjoyed teasing Marissa like this.

“Oh you know what guy I’m talking about! That mega babe you gave your number to yesterday. Sophie’s uncle.” Marissa replied.

Demi let out a small giggle and asked, “Did you just say ‘mega babe’?”

“Shut up and just talk to me about the damn guy! You always make it so difficult when you have a crush on someone.”

“Who said I had a crush on him?”

“Everyone saw the way you were flirting with him.” That was Chris putting his two cents in. He didn’t even look up from pouring glue into squeezable containers for the campers to use.

“Oh so you notice when I flirt with people but not when people are flirting with you?” Demi raised an eyebrow and smirked at the brunette male.

This got Chris’ attention and he looked up at her. Out of the corner of her eye Demi saw the horrified look on Marissa’s face. It was no secret that Marissa had feelings for Chris; well apparently it was a secret to him but every other employee at Camp Waterbrook knew about it.

“What are you talking about?” Chris asked setting down the galloon of glue.

“Nothing!” Marissa shouted. “Demi’s just trying to take the subject off herself.” Demi couldn’t help but laugh at Marissa’s reaction. “Now, about this guy-“

“Look, can’t a girl find a guy attractive and not be bombarded with questions about when our wedding is?” Demi asked. “Damn. He’s only here for a week so I’m just having a little fun. Calm your tits.” But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to Sophie coming to arts and crafts this morning and maybe seeing her uncle Nick if he tagged along.

——————————————————

“What in the world are you doing?”

Nick heard Joe mumble early the next morning. He groaned and rolled his head before answering. “It’s time for arts and crafts.”

This seemed to wake Joe up and the older Jonas sat up in his cot, raising his eyebrows at his brother. “Sophie didn’t even have to wake you up. This must be serious.”

Nick turned to his brother and saw that playful smirk on his face. “You were the one forcing me to get back out there and now you’re teasing me about it?”

“I wouldn’t be a good big brother if I wasn’t.” Joe said with a wink and then laid back down in bed.

“Lazy ass.” Nick mumbled as he walked out of the tent.

“Heard that!” Joe shouted.

“You were supposed to!” Nick responded and he chuckled to himself as he walked over to Kevin’s tent.

Danielle and Sophie were the only ones up eating bowls of cereal. “Uncle Nicky!” Sophie said with a mouthful of Lucky Charms which made Nick laugh.

“Hey Sophie, Dani.” Nick waved. “The men are still asleep?”

“Sophie heard me get up this morning for my bike ride and she wanted to go with me.” Dani answered. “Otherwise I’m sure she’d still be asleep.”

“No! I got up for arts and crafts too!”

“I think that’s why Uncle Nicky’s up too.” Danielle winked at her brother-in-law.

Nick let out a nervous laugh. “Does everyone know about this?”

“Pretty much. I even think your mom called your grandma and told her about it.”

“Great.” Nick said, adding an eye roll.

“Uncle Nicky, do you know what arts and crafts they’re doing today?” Sophie asked. She shoveled another spoon full of Lucky Charms into her mouth.

“I think it’s scary spiders.” Nick answered.

Sophie groaned. “That doesn’t sound fun!”

“Oh, Sophie, go for your Uncle Nick.” Dani encouraged. Nick knew it was a joke directed at him though.

“So you can see your girlfriend?” Sophie sang out with a playful smile on her face, a trait she acquired from the Jonas side of the family because Joe has the same smirk.

“Shut up.” Nick lightly shoved the little girl and smiled down at her.

Sophie’s mischievous expression changed. She pointed a finger at Nick and then turned to face her mom. “Uncle Nicky said a bad word!” She tattled.

Nick covered his mouth. “Oops, sorry Sophie.”

“Why doesn’t Uncle Nicky get in trouble for saying it but I do?” Sophie asked her mom.

“Because Uncle Nicky is a grown up and should know better than to do that. And I’m not his mom so I can’t punish him.” Danielle answered.

“Then I’m going to tell Grandma.” Sophie jumped out of her seat and started running towards Mr. and Mrs. Jonas’ tent.

“Oh no you don’t!” Nick called as he ran after her. He caught up to her without breaking a sweat and threw her over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” Sophie demanded between laughs.

“Nope. We’re going to arts and crafts.”

——————————————————

Nick would’ve been lying if he said that as he approached the Rec Shelter he wasn’t looking for Demi through the crowd of campers. By now Sophie was straddling his shoulders instead of being thrown over them like a sack of potatoes. Maybe she could get a better view of Demi from being up there. Nick thought about asking her, but he realized that would make him sound desperate. Besides, Sophie had heard everyone teasing him about Demi yesterday and even Dani was poking fun at him just five minutes ago because of it. He decided it was best not to ask.

The American flag decorated table was free when they reached the Rec Shelter. Nick lifted Sophie off his shoulders, then they both sat down and waited for arts and crafts to begin.

“This table again?”

Nick smiled to himself before turning around to face the person who had asked the question: Demi.

“Demi!” Sophie exclaimed. The little girl stood from the table and gave Demi a hug. It still didn’t make sense to Nick how Sophie had opened up so easily to Demi, but he took that as a sign that he definitely should try and make something work with this Demi girl, even if it was just for a week.

“Feeling a bit patriotic I guess.” Nick finally answered Demi’s question.

“Good thing too since it’s Fourth of July week.” She replied, arms still wrapped around the five year old.

“Will you come sit by us for arts and crafts today, Demi?” Sophie pleaded. If she had been asking Nick that there was no way he could’ve refused. Especially when she used her puppy dog face.

“Well I have to pass out supplies, but afterwards I could.” The counselor answered.

“Why don’t we help her, Soph?” Nick suggested, looking up at Demi.

“Oh, you guys don’t need-“ Demi tried to protest, but she was interrupted by Sophie.

“Yeah!” The young girl agreed.

“Are you sure?” Demi was mostly asking Nick this.

“Yeah, it’ll be no problem.” Nick said with a shrug.

——————————————————

It was a small problem. Nick didn’t realize how many people actually participated in arts and crafts and this activity required lots of supplies to be handed out. Nick was cutting the pipe cleaners that would be used as legs while Sophie passed them out. Sophie seemed to have no trouble at all talking to the other campers as they approached her, which confused Nick since normally she’d be silent to any stranger that acknowledged her. While Sophie seemed to have no problem with her task, Nick had trouble keeping up with the demand.

“Not so easy, is it?” Demi asked when she had a spare second. Literally, it was only a second before another kid came up to her and asked for her help.

“I had no idea this many people did arts and crafts.”

“This is really one of the busiest weeks. Sometimes there is barely anyone up here to do them. Those are the weeks we get like extra close with the campers.” Demi explained as she helped some little boy put the pipe cleaner legs into the egg carton body of his spider.

“You seem to manage to get to know these campers pretty well this week.” Nick pointed out, cutting another set of spider legs.

“Well there are some that you can’t help but get close with.” Demi’s eyes darted in Sophie’s direction.

Nick followed Demi’s gaze and smiled at his young niece. “I’m just surprised by she’s acting these past two days.”

Demi was putting another set of legs into a spider for another camper, but Nick watched as her brow scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean?” Demi asked Nick and then handed back the spider to the child waiting patiently in front of her. “Here you go.” She said with a smile.

“She’s normally insanely shy and wouldn’t be passing out arts and crafts supplies to strangers, let alone being really attached to you.” Nick stated. “No offense.”

“None taken. Maybe she’s just a really good judge of character?”

“At five?”

Demi shrugged.

Nick thought back on how, even though he had dated Georgia for three years, Sophie never seemed to like her. A small laugh escaped his lips. “You might actually be right about that now that I think about it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I dated this girl for three years and Sophie never really cared for her.” Nick explained to Demi.

“Three years?” Nick nodded. “And you never put a ring on it?”

Nick laughed. “I would’ve gladly married her, but she, uh, didn’t want that.” Demi gave him a look that told him to continue on. “I caught her cheating on me one day.”

“If we weren’t around young children, I would be saying a few very bad words towards her.” Demi whispered to him and Nick laughed once again.

Demi laughed with him and Nick couldn’t help but note that her laugh was incredibly adorable. Listening to it made him laugh harder and looking at her smile made his spread wider across his face. Her attitude was just contagious, and Nick really liked that. He needed someone who could make him laugh.

Nick picked up another handful of pipe cleaners and was just about to cut them when he felt Demi’s hand on his to stop him. He really hoped that the blush he could feel on his face wasn’t as noticeable as it felt.

“You don’t have to cut anymore. It looks like it’s dying down now and you’ve cut plenty.” Demi explained. Her hand lingered on his a second longer before she brought it back beside her and Nick could still feel his hand tingling from her touch.

They didn’t start up another conversation for the rest of the time kids were doing arts and crafts. Just as the last campers left the pavilion with their brand new spiders, Sophie turned to face Demi. “Can you play checkers with me?”

Nick watched Demi check her phone, probably checking the time or at least that’s what Nick figured, and then smiled up at the five year old. “I have a bit of time before I have to set up for T-ball, why not?” She nodded her head towards the pavilion. “Go get us a table while your uncle Nicky and I go get the checker pieces.” She waved for Nick to follow her and he did.

“You know you can call me Nick.” He told her once he caught up to Demi.

“I know, but I like Uncle Nicky better.” Demi looked over her shoulder and winked at him.

By then they had reached the small shack that the counselors kept loads of stuff such as arts and crafts supplies, board games, and much more. Nick spotted the box of checkers first and reached for them. If he had been paying attention to Demi he would’ve noticed her looking at the small patch of skin that showed when Nick’s shirt inched up as he reached. That would explain the blush he saw on her face when he turned around to face her with checker pieces in hand. “Got them.” He stated.

“Thanks.” Demi replied. She took the box from his hands and turned to walk back to the tables. Nick followed. “You ready to get your butt kicked?” Demi asked Sophie when she sat down at the table.

Nick took a seat next to his niece and laughed at Demi’s question.

“No because I’m about to beat you!” Sophie shot back.

“Oh, you think you can handle that, Demi?” Nick asked with a smirk on his face.

“It is so on, Sophie. And no help from your uncle.” Demi pointed over at Nick.

“Hey,” Nick raised his hands. “She’s able to handle herself. She’s beaten me in plenty of board games without me having to take it easy on her.”

Sophie’s head turned to her uncle. “You’ve been taking it easy on me?” She asked with an angry tone.

“Not at all, Soph. You’ve seen how upset I was when you beat me at Go Fish the other day.” Nick recalled.

Thinking about that victory made Sophie smile. The little girl turned back to Demi and began setting up the red checker pieces.

“You know,” Demi began as she set up her black pieces “these are my two favorite colors.”

“Mine are purple and pink.” Sophie commented.

“What about you, Nicky?” Demi looked up at him and Nick got lost in her brown eyes for a moment.

“His is blue.” Sophie answered for him.

“What are his other favorites then?” Demi asked Sophie as if Nick wasn’t even by them.

“His favorite anything is his guitar. I’m his favorite niece-“

“You’re my only niece.” Nick pointed out, interrupting Sophie.

“You have Paul.”

“He’s my nephew.”

“I’m still your favorite.”

“What about music?” Demi interrupted the back and forth conversation between Nick and Sophie. Both Jonas looked at her. “Who are your guys’ favorite artists?”

“I really like One Direction.” Sophie answered first, a light blush appearing on your face.

“Oh,” Demi cooed “which one is your favorite?”

“Harry.” The blush on Sophie’s face got darker.

“No boys until you’re twenty.” Nick pointed out.

“But what if Harry Styles comes knocking on your day tomorrow? You’re going to deny true love?” Demi teasingly asked.

“Yeah Uncle Nicky!” Sophie agreed.

“Okay, only if it’s Harry Styles.” Nick compromised. Sophie smiled and turned her attention back to the game.

She and Demi had been playing throughout the conversation and by now Sophie had three of Demi’s black pieces while Demi only had one of hers. “You weren’t lying when you said she was good at this.” Demi said to Nick.

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” Nick answered as he watched Sophie jump over one more of Demi’s guys.

“Damn!” Demi’s eyes widened. “I mean darn!”

Nick laughed while Sophie’s mouth dropped open.

“So Nick you never answered who your favorite artists are?” Demi said as she took her turn.

“I like a lot of mellow stuff like Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Ed Sheeran, Frank Ocean, Fleetwood Mac, bands like that.”

“That’s a lot of old and new stuff mixed together.”

Nick nodded. “What about you? Who do you like?” Demi raised an eyebrow. “Music wise.” Nick corrected himself. God, he felt like he was in the first grade or something with how nervous he felt around Demi.

“John Mayer and Kelly Clarkson are probably two of my top favorite artists, but I also like a bunch of random stuff like Lil’ Wayne to Jon McLaughlin.” Demi answered as she took another turn. This time she was able to jump one of Sophie’s red pieces. The older girl is only down to three pieces; one of them is a king. Sophie on the other hand has three kings plus two extra checkers trying to make their way across the board.

“Lil’ Wayne?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“I can do a pretty mean cover of ‘How to Love’.” Demi commented as she studied the board. Sophie had just taken one more of her pieces.

“I’d love to hear it.”

“I can’t perform that song in front of kids!” Demi stated.

“You’re only down to one more piece, Demi!” Sophie said in excitement.

“Oh my lanta, this kid is good!” Demi exclaimed.

“I think she gets it from me.” Realizing how self-centered that sounded, Nick quickly thought of a way to change it around. “I mean, I’m pretty competitive, so she gets that from me.”

“Then you’ll have to come do some sport stuff this week.” Demi replied.

“As long as you’re playing too.”

It was only for a second, but Nick was sure he saw a blush appear on Demi’s face. She looked up and gave him a smile, but she gazed back down at the board and exclaimed, “when the heck did your piece get there?”

Sophie had a victory smile spread across her face.

“I’m pretty sure you cheated. There’s no way you could have a guy there.” Demi said, flustered.

“Just accept defeat. No one ever beats a Jonas.” Nick stated.

Demi made her last move and watched Sophie jump over the black checker piece. “We’ll just see when you join us for one of the sporting events. I’ll make sure we’re on separate teams so I can kick your ass. I mean butt.”

“You swear a lot.” Sophie remarked.

“Yeah, I have a pretty bad potty mouth.”

“Hey Demi! We’re ready to start T-ball.” The male counselor called from the counselor’s shack.

“Okay, Chris. I’ll be right there.” Demi turned back to the two Jonas in front of her. “Are you guys going to play T-ball?”

Nick wrapped an arm around Sophie. “I think I’m a little too old, but do you want to play, Soph?”

Sophie rapidly shook her head.

“Why not?” Her uncle asked.

“I just don’t want to.” Nick felt her cuddle closer to him and it was a move he knew all too well. She was getting nervous again.

“She was sort of like this at the meet and greet games the other day. That’s why she and I went off and I played guitar for her.” Demi noted.

Nick smiled up at the camp counselor. It warmed his heart that she actually spent one on one time with Sophie just so that she didn’t feel uncomfortable. That would explain why the five year old was so attached to her.

“We should probably head back anyway. We’ve been here forever your mom and dad are probably wondering where the heck we went.” Nick said.

“Can I ride on your back again?”

“Of course!” Nick knelt down so that Sophie could jump up and wrap her arms around his neck. He turned to Demi. “Have fun with T-ball.”

“You better come back tomorrow. We could always use the help.” Demi replied with a smile. She waved at them and watched them leave.

“So are you two in love yet?” Demi heard Marissa ask. The other camp counselor was holding the bases and a baseball bat as she walked towards Demi.

“We just talked and I played checkers with his niece. It’s no big deal.”

“Except for the fact that he couldn’t take his eyes off you and you were smiling the entire time.” Marissa teased.

“Shut up and give me some of that stuff to carry down. My team’s about to whoop your team’s ass.” Demi remarked as she took the baseball bat out of Marissa’s hands.

“Always changing the subject.” Marissa mumbled with a shake of her head.

——————————————————

“So are you two in love yet?” Joe joked once he saw Nick and Sophie making their way back up to the campsite.

“You mean me and Sophie? Oh yes we’re madly in love.” Nick sarcastically replied back.

“You know what I’m talking about. Did you talk to Demi?”

“They talked the whole time! I didn’t even get to talk to her!” Sophie complained as she slid off Nick’s back. The five year old noticed her little brother playing with one of his toys at their campsite, so Sophie ran over and joined him.

“I did not!” Nick called after her. If she heard him she made no sign of it. “But we did talk. We just got to know each other.”

“And?” This time it was Blanda seeking information from the younger Jonas brother.

“And she’s” Nick paused and ran a hand through his hair “incredible.”

“And what are you going to do about this?”

Nick took a deep breath. “I’m going to ask her out. Tomorrow.”

“That’s my bro!” Joe raised his hand and Nick slapped his against it. “Just make sure to let me know if you need the tent and me and Blanda will gladly go and join Mom and Dad.” He mentioned with a wink. Nick lightly shoved him in response.


	3. Tuesday

Nick had trouble falling asleep that night. He wanted to say it was because he was so confident and excited about asking Demi out, like how a kid feels on Christmas Eve and can’t sleep, but the truth was he was nervous. His mind wouldn’t stop playing different scenarios of Demi rejecting him or of him making a fool of himself in front of her. The only time he did get any sleep, he was woken up by his brother probably minutes later.

The older Jonas shook Nick’s bed. “Come on, little bro. You’re going to miss arts and crafts and you can’t miss that because you’re going to ask Demi out!” He screamed the last part.

Nick mumbled and tried to ignore his brother. “Fuck off.”

“Get up.” Joe kept repeating that until Nick finally opened his eyes. Joe smiled down at him. “Morning, sunshine.”

“What time is it?” Nick asked as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“10:30, so you better get going. Arts and crafts are almost over.”

Nick shoved his older brother away from him and rolled out of bed. There was no way he was prepared for this, but he knew if he backed down now Joe would never let him hear the end of it. Joe might possibly go and ask Demi out for Nick if he refused to do so now. He threw on a white v-neck and a pair of jeans then ran to the Rec Shelter.

Luckily their campsite was only a minute run away from the pavilion where all the campers were sitting. As he approached he searched for his older brother in the crowd. It was Sophie he saw first though. She was running from one table with what looked like beads in her hands.

“Soph!” He called out.

The five year old turned towards his voice and a smile appeared on her face when she saw her uncle. She ran to him, careful not to drop her beads, and hugged him. “Come on.” She tugged at the hem of his shirt and led him to where she and her dad were sitting.

Nick was a little surprised to see Demi sitting across from Kevin at the table that all the counselors signed.

“Uncle Nicky’s here!” Sophie announced.

Demi looked up from the bracelet she was working on and smiled at him. “I guess your brother didn’t get the memo to sit at the American flag table. You think you can handle sitting at a different table?” She teased.

“I think I can manage.” Nick smiled. He thought about asking her out right now, but fear of getting turned down in front of his niece and brother stopped him. Nick was about to take a seat next to Kevin when he watched Demi pat the spot on the bench next to her. Still smiling, he sat down beside her and their shoulders brushed against each other. “What are you guys making?”

“Well I’m making a necklace for Paul.” Sophie answered right away, holding up her elastic string with multi-colored beads on them.

“It’s looking really nice, Soph. Paul’s gonna love it.” Nick commented.

“I’m making one for Dani.” Kevin nodded toward Sophie. “She convinced me to do it.”

“And Demi’s making one for you.” Sophie pointed out.

Nick looked over at the camp counselor.

“Sophie wanted me to since you weren’t here.” Demi remarked.

“She remembered that blue was your favorite color, so that’s why there’s blue beads and I told her to put the baseball on there because you love baseball.” Sophie told, pointing at each part of the bracelet.

“And whose idea was it to put ‘Nicky’ on there?” Nick asked, looking down at the bracelet.

“Mine.” Demi said with a smile. “There wasn’t enough room to put ‘Uncle Nicky’ sadly.”

“Oh darn.” Nick sarcastically complained. Then he smirked as an idea came to mind. “I’ll be right back.” The twenty one year old then went around from table to table to find the different beads he needed plus the elastic string to make a bracelet.

“What are you doing?” Demi asked when Nick sat back down next to her.

“Making you a bracelet.” Nick answered. If he had looked away from his project, he would’ve noticed Demi blushing.

Demi watched as Nick started placing the red and black beads in a pattern along with beads that spelled out her name. “What’s with the baseball bead?” Demi asked.

“Well, you did T-ball yesterday, so…“ Nick trailed off with a shrug.

“Plus that means we’ll be matching.” Demi also noted.

Nick looked up at her and smiled. “Yeah, that too.”

Nick could feel Kevin and Sophie’s eyes on them and this caused him to blush, but Demi did too.

“Nick and Demi sitting in a tree-“ Sophie began to sing, but Nick cut her off.

“Sophie and Harry sitting in a tree.” Nick shot back. He didn’t even have to finish the rhyme because Sophie was already yelling at him to stop and her face was bright red, which was what he had wanted.

“Who’s Harry?” Kevin asked.

“Harry Styles. That dude with the crazy hair from One Direction? Come on, old man, keep up with the new stuff.” Nick informed.

Kevin scrunched up his brow at his younger brother; probably wondering why he knew so much about this boy band. “That’s his name?” Nick nodded in response to Kevin’s question. “I thought you liked the blonde guy from One Direction?”

“I like Harry now.” Sophie stated.

“And next week it’ll probably be another one.” Demi added in.

“Probably.” Kevin responded with a laugh.

“Nick,” Demi turned to face him “hold out your wrist.” She demanded; Nick did as he was told. The camp counselor scooted a little closer to Nick and an expression of concentration passed onto her face as she positioned the bracelet she had made under his wrist, and Nick watched as she carefully tied it off at the perfect spot. Their faces were inches apart and, if Nick hadn’t been holding his breath, she probably would’ve felt it on her face. “There.” She said once she knotted the elastic string. She glanced up at him and smiled; Nick smiled back.

“I-I’m not done with yours yet.” Nick stuttered.

“Just come find me when you’re done with it. I’m going to go see if Marissa or Chris needs anything. Bye guys.” Demi waved farewell as she stood from the table and then went to find her fellow counselors.

Kevin waited until Demi was out of earshot before he turned to Nick with a playful grin on his face. “So, when’s the wedding?”

Nick threw his hands up in frustration. “Why does everyone keep asking stuff like that?”

“Um, because it’s really obvious that you two like each other and you need to ask her out.” Kevin replied.

Nick sighed. “Look, I’m going to ask her out, just,” he paused “stop putting so much pressure on this, please?”

Kevin nodded his head as he reached across the table and lightly placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Okay, bro.”

“Thank you.”

“How does Paul’s necklace look?” Sophie asked, holding it up once again for her dad and uncle to see.

“Paul’s going to love it.” Kevin stated. He pulled his daughter closer and kissed her cheek. Nick laughed at the face Sophie made. “Why don’t we go give it to him?”

Sophie’s face lit up. “Yeah!” She jumped off the table and waved to Nick as she ran towards her bike.

“You know Joe’s going to eat you up alive if you come back and say you chickened out.” Kevin raised his hands in defense after Nick shot him an annoyed look. “Just saying. See you back at camp.” And the oldest Jonas followed his daughter.

With his older brother and niece gone, Nick sat in silence as he finished Demi’s bracelet. As he worked on his art and craft, he worked out different ways he could ask her out in his mind.

From a distance, Demi watched Nick as he concentrated on stringing a plastic bead. A smile crept onto her face.

“So you made him a bracelet?”

Demi’s eyes rolled when she heard Marissa’s question. “His niece wanted me to.” She replied, turning to face the other camp counselor.

“And I’m sure she had to twist your arm to make you do it.”

“Look, if he liked me he’d ask me out. It’s as simple as that, and so far he hasn’t.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Demi raised an eyebrow at Marissa who only smiled back at her.

“I’m going to go see if Chris needs any help.” Marissa said and then walked off.

Demi stood there confused for a second before a deep voice brought her back to reality.

“Demi?”

Butterflies formed in her stomach when she heard Nick say her name. She bit her lip and then turned around to face him; he had this nervous expression on his face and Demi couldn’t help but find it adorable. It made the butterflies flutter that much faster. “Nick.” She regained her confidence.

Demi watched his Adam’s apple bounce as he swallowed. He raised his hand and Demi saw the finished bracelet. “I finished it.” He stated.

“Would you put it on me?” Demi asked, holing out her wrist.

Nick nodded and began to work on tying the bracelet on her arm. “Look, Demi, I really appreciate how nice you’ve been to Sophie.”

Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but Demi swore she saw Nick’s hands shaking.

“It’s really hard for her to make friends and the fact that she already likes you is a good sign and will you go out with me?” Nick blurted out.

Demi had to make sure she heard him right, so she didn’t respond for a second. This made Nick even more nervous. “What did you…” Demi trailed off.

“I’m so sorry, I-“

“Did you just ask me out?”

“I-I don’t know if it’s okay or weird to ask you out because we’ve only known each other for two days but we’re only here for a week, so yeah, I am.”

Demi couldn’t help but smile at his bashfulness; it was endearing. He opened his mouth to speak again, probably to ramble on some more, and as much as Demi would’ve enjoyed him making more of a fool of himself she stopped him. “I’d love to.”

Nick breathed a sigh of relief and then the biggest smile came over his face. With the pressure off his shoulders, Nick was able to finish tying off her bracelet. “Great because I was thinking-“

Demi raised her newly braceleted arm and cut him off once more. “You didn’t let me finish. I’ll go out with you if you can beat me in horseshoes.” She challenged.

Nick’s smile dropped. “Horseshoes?”

“You’d be surprised how many people play. Beat me and we’ll do what you want, but if I win you have to do what I want.” Demi explained.

“You’re on.” Nick answered after thinking about it for a second. “Horseshoes can’t be that hard.”

Demi smiled. “Then I’ll see you here at two.”

“It’s a date.”

\-------------------------------

It seemed like Nick’s entire family was waiting for him to get back. They were all sitting at the parents’ tent; Frankie was playing cards with Sophie, the older women were lounging in the sun, and the men talked while sipping on some beer.

Paul, who had been sitting on his mother’s lap, was the first to nice Nick’s return. “Icky!” The two year old exclaimed. He couldn’t quite pronounce Nick’s came correctly just yet and the rest of Nick’s family never let him forget it.

Everyone’s heads turned in the direction Paul was looking.

“What took you so long, bro?” Joe asked with a smirk. Kevin lightly nudged him. “What?” Joe asked his older brother.

Kevin just answered him with a look and then brought his attention back to Nick.

Knowing that everyone was waiting for an answer from him, because Kevin probably filled them in on what Nick was doing, he took a breath before saying “We’re going out . . . sort of.”

Joe, who had stood up and been in mid-cheer, sat back down. “Sort of?”

“I have to beat her in horseshoes.”

“Can I come?” Sophie asked.

“No, sweetie. This is just for Uncle Nicky and Demi.” Dani answered.

Joe stood up. “Well you better start training!”

Nick signaled for his brother to sit back down. “Look, I don’t think I need to train. All you have to do is throw the thing at the pole, right?”

\-------------------------------

“Chris, I need to do horseshoes today.” Demi said more than asked.

“Why?” Chris asked. He was in the middle of a chess game with a camper.

“I sort of have a date type thing with a game of horseshoes.”

Chris laughed. “Does Marissa know?”

“Are you kidding me? She eavesdropped on the conversation where he asked me. Once he left, she ran up to me and demanded to know all the details.”

Christ laughed again. “Typical Marissa.” He made a move in his chess game. “Just make sure you include the other people that want to play.”

“Thanks, Chris.” Demi gave him a quick hug and then went off to the counselor’s shack to grab the supplies.

\-------------------------------

Nick should’ve checked on the activities board. He didn’t realize that this was an event open to all adult campers. Now if he lost it’d be in public. Maybe that was Demi’s plan all along. He should’ve taken Joe up on that training.

There were four other people, all older than Nick, and he was definitely the most overdressed in his plaid button down shirt and jeans. The other players wore t-shirts and basketball shorts. The only woman in the group just had her bikini top on with a pair of booty shorts.

“There there, campers!” Demi greeted when she came over to join the group, carrying the supplies with her. She sent a wink to Nick. “Everyone ready to play some horseshoes?”

Some of the people cheered in response.

“Since we have six people, I think we’ll spilt up and have two games going. You four together and I’ll beat this gentleman’s ass.” Demi looped her arm with Nick’s. “Then the winners of both games will play against each other.”

The other adults nodded in agreement.

“Ringers, if you get the horseshoe around the stake, are two points and if you’re a horseshoe’s width from the stake then that’s one point. We’re playing to 21.” Demi explained. She handed the team of four their horseshoes. The stakes were already in position, so the team went and separated themselves into teams of two.

“I should warn you,” Demi began as she and Nick walked to their court “I play horseshoes around two times a week, so I’m pretty damn good.”

“And I should let you know that I’ve never played before.” Nick replied, making Demi laugh.

“Then why’d you agree to do this?”

“I’m hoping for some beginner’s luck I guess.”

“Well you can go first then.” Demi said, handing him two horseshoes.

Nick put one in each hand. “So you just throw it underhand?”

“No, you have to throw a curveball.” Demi sarcastically replied. “Of course you throw it underhand! Haven’t you ever seen people play this before?”

“I didn’t know if there were different rules or something.” Nick went to throw, but stopped himself.

“What?”

“How about for every ringer we get we ask the other person a question?” Nick suggested.

Demi nodded. “Alright, game on.”

Nick sent his first horseshoe flying and his second one was too short. Demi got one point on her turn. On his second turn Nick’s horseshoes landed closer than before but were still too far to earn any points. Demi’s first toss on her second turn was a ringer. She cheered.

“Okay, that means I get to ask a question.” Demi paused to think of one. “How old are you exactly?”

“Exactly, like in minutes and seconds?”

“Not that precise. I just never got your age when we talked.”

“21. You?”

Demi waved her finger. “Wait your turn, mister.”

“If my other throws will be like those I doubt I’ll get to ask you anything.” Nick complained. “Can’t you spare me this one?” He pleaded.

“Just this one: 21, but I’ll be 22 in a little over a month.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“You only get the one freebie Nicky.” She winked and then waited for him to take his next turn.

A few more innings went by without any ringers but with a lot of playful teasing. Nick was able to get his first point on his fifth turn, and Demi could tell losing was not something he liked.

Demi got another ringer that same inning, which mean she was at nine points now. “What was the first song you learned on guitar?”

“’Sugar We’re Going Down’ by Fall Out Boy.” Nick answered.

It took Nick two more turns to get his next point and he got his first ringer the turn after. “Finally! Now, what is your favorite thing in the entire world and why?”

Demi raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to ask me my birthday?”

“This could be the only chance I get to ask you a question, so I better make it a good one.” Nick replied.

After thinking for a moment, Demi answered, “My family because they’re my biggest support system. I’d be lost without them.”

“Nice answer.” Nick commented and then threw his second horseshoe; it was another ringer. “Hell yeah! Do you have any pets?”

“Still not my damn birthday!” Demi jokingly complained; Nick laughed. “But yes I do: a shih tzu, Oliver.” After she answered she tossed her two horseshoes but only got one point. The score was now twelve to five.

Nick’s next two tosses got him two points; Demi got one point and a ringer. “Since you won’t ask, I will. What’s your birthday? And mine’s August 20th by the way.”

Nick laughed at Demi’s apparent frustration. “September 16th.”

“I guess that makes me a cougar.” Demi winked.

“I always did have a thing for older women.” Nick winked back.

After he got the hang of it, Nick seemed to get points every toss. His next ringer e asked what Demi was going to school for.

“Education.”

“This job seems to be the perfect practice for that then.”

“Yeah. Especially since I’m going into early elementary teaching.”

The score was eighteen to twelve when Demi got her next ringer, which gave her twenty points now. “I only need one more point.” She gloated.

“Just watch. I’m gonna get all ringers from now on.”

“Okay, sure. Now, for my question, if you could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?”

“Play music.” Nick answered almost immediately. “Life would be too hard to go through without that outlet.”

“I’d probably answer the same way. I wouldn’t have been able to recover without it.”

“Wait, recover? From what?”

“Get a ringer and you can ask.”

Nick tossed a ringer his next turn. He smirked at her. “Now, what’s this recovery you’re talking about?”

Demi took a deep breath before answering. “I had, still have, issues with my body. I had bulimia and would cut myself, but now I’m almost two years clean.”

“You’re strong.” Nick stated. “And I think you’re beautiful.”

Demi blushed. “Thank you.”

Nick smiled down at her. He felt the urge to bend down to kiss her and even started leaning in to do so when one of the players from the other game interrupted. “You two done yet?”

Both Nick and Demi blushed. “Almost.” Demi answered.

Continuing the game, Nick threw his next horseshoe and got one point.

“And I thought you were getting ringers from now on?” Demi teased.

“Just take your turn.”

“Okay, sore loser.” Demi threw her first horseshoe and missed. Nick clenched his fists and smiled.

“Don’t get too cocky. I still have one more horseshoe.” Demi waved it in front of Nick’s face.

“And you have a one third chance of getting that one point. No pressure though.”

Demi lightly pushed him with her free hand and then focused on the stake forty feet away from her. All she had to do was get around six inches from it and she’d win. The horseshoe sailed through the air and the two of them watched as it landed right next to the stake. Demi threw her hands in the air and cheered.

“I win!”

“There’s no way that’s a horseshoes’ width from the stake!” Nick tried to protest.

“You’re right. It’s next to the stake which makes it less than that.” Demi corrected with a cocky smile on her face.

Nick sighed in defeat. “So where does that leave us?”

“Oh we’re still going out. It’s just going to be what I pick.”

Nick smiled. “Well, what do you want to do?”

Demi opened her mouth to respond, but one of the men playing spoke before she could. “Are we playing or what, Miss?”

“In a second.” Demi replied. She looked back at Nick with an apologetic look on her face.

Nick nodded toward the other horseshoes court. “Go play. I’ll wait until the game’s over and then we can talk.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Now go beat this guy’s ass.” Nick responded with a smile.

Demi laughed and ran over to join the other horseshoe winner. The two of them began to play.

At the beginning of the game, Nick texted Kevin to bring Sophie down and around five minutes later the five year old was sitting on Nick’s lap as the two of them cheered Demi on.

“So Demi kicked your but?” Sophie asked, taking her eyes off the game to look up at her uncle.

Nick pressed his lips together and nodded.

“You lose a lot, don’t you, Uncle Nicky?”

“Not all the time. Just ask your dad and Uncle Joey.”

“Uncle Joey says you cheat.”

“Uncle Joey is a sore loser.”

“I see that runs in the family.” Nick heard Demi call over. He looked up at her and saw her smiling over at the two of them.

“Just concentrate on your game there.” Nick said, smiling back at her.

Sophie moved closer to Nick so that she could reach his ear. “Do you like like her?” The little girl whispered into her uncle’s ear.

Nick felt a blush appear on his cheeks. Before answering he glanced to make sure Demi wasn’t looking over at them. She wasn’t. “Yeah.” He whispered back. “Is that okay?”

Sophie smiled up at Nick and nodded her head.

“Good because I really like her and it’s important that you like her too.”

“Why?” Sophie’s brow scrunched in confusion.

“Because you’re important to me, Soph.” Nick wrapped his arms around his niece’s waist and lightly squeezed her. He planted a kiss on the top of her light brown hair and Sophie pushed him away.

“Ew!”

So, of course, Nick spent the rest of the game trying to plant a small kiss on Sophie while the five year old attempted to cheer Demi on despite her uncle’s harassment. When the game had finished, Demi lost by three points, she came over to Nick and Sophie.

“What happened? I thought you were the horseshoes champ?” Nick teasingly questioned.

“Be quiet, Uncle Nicky! Demi did awesome.” Sophie said, smiling up at the camp counselor.

“Thank you, Sophie. At least one of you is supportive.” Demi gave Nick a look, which made him laugh.

“Hey, you beat me if that’s any consolation.” Nick noted.

Demi laughed. “True.” She then leaned down so that she was face to face with Sophie. “Do you mind if I talk to your uncle in private?”

Sophie looked up at her uncle, back down to Demi, and then up at her uncle once more. She then wiggled her eyebrows and hopped off his lap. Nick couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Sometimes I find it hard to believe that she’s only five. She seems so much more mature for her age.” Nick remarked as he watched his niece walk over to the Rec Shelter. “So what did you want to talk about

“What, did you already forget about our date tonight?”

Nick shook his head. “No, no, no! Please tell me what you have in mind.”

Demi laughed. “Well, how about I see you tonight at the canteen?”

The canteen, or what some other campers call the dance, was just that: a dance. It was mostly aimed at the middle school kids who always dressed in their nicest clothes hoping that someone would ask them to dance. The music consisted of whatever was popular at the moment and at two points during the dance the DJ would play line dances for everyone to do. Although he and his brothers attended the dances, Nick never learned the line dances. He left that to his older brothers who were much more confident in their dance skills; Joe was asked to dance with a girl almost every night because he would always find a group of girls that looked around his age and just randomly start dancing with them. Nick never had that kind of luck at the dances, so he grew to dislike them.

“Is that okay?” Demi asked when Nick didn’t respond right away.

Well, maybe going with Demi wouldn’t be so bad. He gave her a smile and nodded. “Sounds fun.”

“You guys are going to the dance?” Sophie asked in an excited tone. She must have snuck up on them while Nick was lost in his thoughts.

“I guess my family might be joining us too.” Nick cringed.

Demi laughed. “Don’t worry. As long as we have some alone time then I’m okay with that.”

Nick’s eyebrows rose. “Alone time?”

“We are adults, Nicholas.” Demi added with a wink. Then, she leaned in and pecked Nick’s cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.” She seductively whispered in his ear, causing the blood to rush to his cheeks and maybe somewhere else that he didn’t want his five year old niece to know about.

“Yeah, see you.” He responded when she backed away from him.

Demi waved as she walked back to the Rec Shelter. Nick didn’t realize he was still staring at her until Sophie tugged on his arm. He shook his head and looked down at the little girl. “Yeah?”

Sophie smiled up at him. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I think she likes you too.”

\-------------------------------

Demi was at the canteen first because she rode with Chris down there since he was DJing that night. She sat with Chris in the DJ booth, both of them taking requests from the campers that had arrived early, until Nick showed up.

“You nervous?” Chris asked.

“About?”

“The date! I see you fidgeting with everything you can put your hands on.”

Demi shrugged. “Maybe a little bit. He’s a really amazing guy.”

“And that’s only after two days of knowing him, dang!”

Demi laughed and opened her mouth to respond, but something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye: Nick making his way down to the dance.

Nick was still dressed in the clothes he had worn earlier but now he was fiddling with something in his hands as he made his way down the hill. She approached him once he reached the asphalt that the dance was held on.

“Hi.” She greeted with a small wave and smile.

“Hey.” He replied.

“So what’s behind your back?” Demi realized that Nick had moved his hands behind his back when he saw her walking towards him.

Blushing, Nick pulled out a single rose and held it out for her.

Demi’s smile widened as she carefully took hold of the flower. “Oh, Nick. It’s beautiful!” Demi smelled the flower and the aroma filled her nose. “So where’s the rest of your family?”

“I made sure to leave earlier than they planned so that I wouldn’t get too much harassment for my dance moves.”

“So that’s why you looked terrified when I mentioned the canteen earlier!”

“Well . . . yeah.” Nick shrugged.

“Good thing I know all the latest dance moves and I’m a pretty good teacher if I do say so myself.”

“Well that’s what you’re studying, so I’d hope so.” Nick smirked. Demi shoved his shoulder. The two of them laughed. “So, when do the line dances start?”

“Not for like another hour. We normally wait until eight to play the first round of the line dances and then play them again around nine. After that are the slow dances.” Demi informed. “Let me go set this down by my stuff in the DJ booth and then we can shake our groove things!”

Nick laughed at Demi’s lingo, nodded his head, and followed her.

“Chris?” Demi stuck her head into the DJ booth. Chris looked up from his iPod. “I’d like you to meet Nick. Nick, this is Chris.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nick held out his hand and Chris shook it.

“Same here. Demi has told us all about you.” Chris replied.

“Good things I hope.”

Chris looked over at Demi and smirked. “Definitely good things.”

A curious expression came on Nick’s face and he looked over at Demi.

“Well, we’re going to go-“

“Shake our groove things.” Nick interrupted.

Chris laughed. “Don’t hurt yourselves. I’ll make sure to play you guys something slow later.” Chris added with a wink.

“Goodbye, Chris.” Demi sang out the first word and then lightly pushed Nick out of the booth.

“Uncle Nicky!” The two of them heard Sophie cry out as soon as they exited the DJ booth.

“I guess I didn’t leave early enough.” Nick groaned.

“Uncle Nicky!” This voice definitely did not come from a five year old girl. Nick saw Joe running towards him with Sophie on his shoulders.

“So how many brothers do you have because I know that’s not Sophie’s dad?” Demi asked.

“That’s my older brother, Joe, and I have a younger brother Frankie.”

“Your poor mom!”

“Well I think that’s why we all love Sophie so much. I mean, we’d love her if she was a boy, but we’ve all been around dudes all the time and it’s nice to have a girl for a change.”

“Demi!” Sophie greeted once she and Joe stopped in front of the couple. “This is my Uncle Joey.”

Demi’s eyebrows rose. “Uncle Joey? Like in _Full House_?”

“Yes, and I am the funny one.” Joe stated with a smile.

“So there’s a Nicky and a Joey in your family?”

“We also have a Dani, but that’s where the differences end because she’s Kevin’s wife.” Nick remarked.

“Unless your middle name starts with a J and then you could be the DJ in our family.” Joe joked.

“No, sadly it starts with a D.”

Nick saw Joe’s expression change to the one he normally has whenever there’s an inappropriate joke or two brewing in his mind. It probably had to do with either Demi wanting ‘the D’ or something about double Ds.

“Is everyone else on their way?” Nick asked before Joe could say anything.

“They’re driving because Dani’s feet have been killing her all day.”Joe informed. “Sophie wanted to walk so I walked with her.”

“Well, do you guys want to get some ice cream?” Demi suggested once the conversation died down.

Sophie’s eyes lit up and viciously nodded her head. All three adults laughed. “Well I guess that’s a yes.” Nick noted.

Joe and Sophie led the way with Nick and Demi closely behind. They were about half way to the ice cream shop when, after much deliberation in his head, Nick took a hold of Demi’s hand. Her hands were so soft except for the tips which were a bit calloused, but not as much as his were and somehow they fit together perfectly. He did get a bit worried though because he felt his hands were getting too sweaty, but Demi didn’t seem to mind if she noticed at all. God he really liked this girl!

“Sorry about Joe and Sophie coming so early.” Nick whispered to his date.

Demi used her free hand to wave off his statement. “It’s no big deal. You know I adore Sophie.”

“Just Sophie?”

“You’re adorable too.” Demi bumped her hip against him.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Nick rubbed his arm against hers. “So what kind of ice cream do you like?”

“Definitely birthday cake. What about you?”

“Cotton candy.”

“I like chocolate!” Sophie exclaimed. The five year old turned around to interrupt their conversation with a huge smile on her face.

Nick felt himself jump and he almost let go of Demi’s hand, but managed to squeeze it just a bit tighter. Demi squeezed back and he heard her giggle under her breath.

“Chocolate is probably my second favorite flavor.” Demi replied.

Sophie looked down at their connected hands and Nick worried that she might make some comment or get Joe to look behind them, but the five year old just smiled up at her uncle and then turned back to watch where her older uncle was leading them.

“So what exactly did you tell Chris about me?”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that.” Demi let out a small laugh. “And just that your niece was cute and that you’re a really fun and awesome guy. And Marissa, that’s the other girl camp counselor, she thinks that you’re a ‘super babe.’ And that’s a direct quote from her.”

“Well, tell her that I’m sort of dating this other camp counselor and I’m a one woman type of guy.”

Demi blushed at Nick’s statement. “I’m flattered but she actually has her eye on Chris, sorry to burst your bubble there.”

“So are they together? Her and Chris?” Demi shook her head. “Why not?”

“Because she’s too shy to make a move and he’s too oblivious to see how she feels about him.”

“Well we have to get them together.”

“We?”

“You’ve been here a month and haven’t gotten them together, so I figure you could use some reinforcements. Besides, it means I can spend a little more time with you.” He smiled down at her.

“I could definitely use the help and the company will just be a good bonus.” Demi smiled back up at him.

By now the four of them were next in line to get their ice cream, and Nick and Demi were still holding hands. Using his free hand, Nick dug into his back pocket to pull out his wallet.

“Oh no, you don’t have to. I’m making you come to the dance, so I’ll treat with the ice cream.”

“There is no way I’m letting a girl pay on the first date.” Nick stated.

Demi gave him a look as if saying ‘what’s-wrong-with-a-girl-paying?’

Nick swallowed, trying to think of a way to explain himself without sounding like a total jerk. “Not because women can’t pay, because they can, it’s just that I’m old fashioned and would like to pay. You could get the next one?”

Demi laughed. “Nick, I get free ice cream since I’m a counselor. I can get us cones and probably Joe and Sophie too, so just let me handle this one, okay? I promise you can pay on our next date.”

Nick opened his mouth to remark on the ‘next date’ thing when Joe turned around.

“I’m down for free ice cream.” Joe inputted.

“Have you been listening this whole time?” Nick asked with some subtle angry tones in there.

“No.” Joe paused. “Not the whole time. Bits and pieces.”

Nick made a mental note to punch Joe in the face while he slept tonight.

“Let me get in front of you guys then.” Demi started moving forward, pulling Nick along with her since their hands were still intertwined.

Nick was pretty sure he heard Joe snickering, which gave him further reason to punch him later tonight.

When it was their turn, Demi walked up to the window and smiled at the people working inside. “Hey Alex.” She greeted the man that was on the cash register.

“Why hello there, Demi. You’re looking good tonight.” Alex winked.

Demi squeezed Nick’s hand and this made Nick smile. “Could you get me and my date some ice cream please? Along with his niece and brother?”

“Sure. What would you like?” Alex didn’t look to please after Demi mentioned that she was on a date with Nick. Nick prayed that he wouldn’t spit into his ice cream or something like that.

“A cotton candy, one birthday cake” Demi looked back at Joe and Sophie.

“And two chocolates please.” Joe spoke up.

“Coming right up. The other guys will give you your ice cream at the next window.” Alex remarked and waited for the group to leave so that he could tend to the next customer.

“Why don’t we go and see if your mom and dad showed up and go sit with them?” Joe suggested to his niece when they received their ice cream.

Okay, so maybe Nick won’t have to punch Joe tonight. He mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ to his brother and then turned his attention to Demi.

“Come on, I have the perfect place to sit.” Demi grabbed a hold of his hand once more and tugged him along until they were beside a lake. “Don’t worry. We can still hear the dance so if the line dances start up we can race back up there.” She took a seat on the grass and then patted the spot next to her; Nick sat on it.

“So this girl that cheated on you,” Demi blurted out after they had sat in silence for a few moments “tell me about that.”

“About her cheating on me?”

“Just the whole relationship in general.”

“Okay, well, we met through friends in high school and dated for three years before she cheated on me.” Nick shrugged. “Not much to tell, really.”

“Did that hurt you?”

Nick looked at her like she was crazy. “Of course it hurt.”

“And are you over it?”

Nick thought about that question for a moment before answering. “I’m getting there. Especially now.”

“You know what would really help?”

“Tell me.”

“Having a lick of birthday cake ice cream.” Demi held out her ice cream.

Nick laughed and did as she was told. “Oh, I feel so much better.” Nick jokingly said.

“You know what else will help?”

“What?”

“This.” And Demi slammed her ice cream into Nick’s face. She laughed so hard that she started snorting, but she was able to get up and run away before Nick could catch her.

“Come here.” Nick stood up and Demi shook her head.

“No way. You have to come get me.”

“Alright, you asked for it.” Nick said and the two of them took off. Luckily their ice cream was free or Nick would feel bad for dropping it on the ground.

Demi didn’t get too far before Nick’s muscular arms wrapped around her waist. Their feet fumbled together and then Demi’s back was on the ground with Nick on top of her; his face just inches from her face.

“Told you I was competitive.” He said. His breath was hot against her skin.

“I guess you did warn me.”

Nick didn’t respond; he just kept starring into her eyes and Demi watched as eventually he leaned closer and closer until his lips were pressed against hers. It was soft and one of his hands cupped her cheek as the kiss deepened.

Demi definitely wouldn’t mind if they did this the rest of the date – Nick was an amazing kisser – but a familiar song began playing at the canteen and she broke the kiss. “We should probably head back up there.”

Nick rested his forehead on hers. “I like what we were just doing better.” Nick breathed.

Demi giggled and gave him a quick peck. “But I gotta teach you the line dances. We’re already missing the Chicken Dance.”

“Oh no! Not the Chicken Dance!” Nick sarcastically said as he stood up. He held his hand out and helped Demi onto her feet. Their hands stayed interlocked as they walked back to the canteen.

The Chicken Dance was over before they reached the dance floor and next was the YMCA.

“Oh please tell me you know this one.” Demi said as the song started the first verse. She pointed her finger and moved it to the beat.

Nick followed along. “I know the YMCA part, not this stuff though.”

“Don’t worry, it’s easy. Just watch me.”

“I was already doing that.” Nick winked.

Demi blushed and continued teaching Nick how to dance. He got the YMCA in no time since there are really only three moves repeated the entire song. When the Hokey Pokey started after, the two were joined by Sophie.

“Now this one I know how to do.” Nick stated as all three of them put their right hand in.

“Because it tells you what to do.” Demi laughed.

“Exactly!” Nick beamed and continued dancing.

The Hamster Dance came on next; Nick was shocked by how hard it was and that Sophie already knew all the moves because it was her “favorite” or so she said. All the dancing in this song involved jumping around which had Nick working up a sweat and he took off his plaid shirt halfway through the song. He bent over to catch his breath once the song was over, but Demi kept reminding him that the Macarena was playing and she had to teach him every different version she knew; there were five different versions apparently. Luckily, none of them were as exhausting as the Hamster dance.

The next song that played was one Nick was familiar with because, when they were younger, Joe would bring a cowboy hat and once the Cotton Eyed Joe began he’s put it on his head and pull out his wackiest rodeo moves. Joe even made an appearance on the dance floor tonight just for that song, minus the cowboy hat. Between laughs, Nick explained Joe’s actions to Demi and she insisted that Joe’s dances were much better than the actual choreographed ones, so they all began dancing just like Joe.

That was the last line dance for that hour; some popular rap song began playing after. It wasn’t one Nick was familiar with, but it did trigger something in him. “Be right back.” He said and walked over to the DJ booth where Chris was. “Hey Chris, could you play me a song?”

“Sure, what?”

Nick put in his request, he even convinced Chris to play it next, and then walked back over to where he had left the group to find Sophie and Demi holding hands and spinning in a circle.

“Where’d Joe go?” He asked.

“Back to hang with Mom and Dad.” Sophie answered. She let one of her hands free from Demi’s grasp and held it out for Nick to hold; he did just that and his other hand took a hold of Demi’s.

“Good. The dance floor’s only for cool people like us.”

“Well, maybe like me and Sophie.” Demi jokingly insulted.

“Ouch.”

The three laughed and continued spinning in a circle until the next song played: Nick’s request. And acoustic guitar began to strum, a beat that was familiar to Demi and a smile broke out on her face.

“Did you request this?” Demi asked, already knowing the answer. She had seen him over there talking to Chris.

“You told me you could do a mean cover and I want to hear it.” Nick answered.

Demi then began singing, more like talking, over Lil Wayne as the song blared throughout the canteen. As the song continued, Demi started singing along and Nick found himself in awe of her voice. It was smooth with a slight rasp to it which just made it all the more better.

A realization that Demi could possibly be the girl of his dreams came to Nick. Unlike Georgia, who had played flute in their high school’s orchestra but was never that invested in music, Demi seemed to breathe music just like Nick. He could sense the passion in her voice as she sang.

The song ended and Nick and Sophie applauded their friend.

Demi bowed. “Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all summer.”

More music played as the hour rolled along and sooner than Nick expected the line dances had started up again. Kevin, Dani, and Joe came to join the group for a bit before halfway through the Cha Cha Slide they left along with Sophie. Nick had a feeling it was because they wanted to leave Nick and Demi alone and he had to remind himself to thank them for that later.

The last line dance of the night was the Time Warp which consisted of everyone splitting into two lines facing each other doing the dance while people ran in between them. Demi told Nick that this was the most popular dance at the canteen. Nick and Demi switched off from being in the line to running in the crowd.

“Alright!” Nick cheered.

“See? These line dances aren’t so bad.” Demi said as the two of them caught their breath from their last run through the warp.

“Yeah, they’re pretty fun. So what’s next?”

“The slow songs.”

“Well,” Nick held out his hand “may I have this dance then?” He asked as the sound of a piano rang out of the speakers.

It was a country song by a new, young artist but Nick really wasn’t paying attention to because all his attention was on the girl he was dancing with.

“I gotta say this has been the most amazing first date I’ve ever been on.” Nick remarked.

“It’s technically the second date since, you know, I kicked your butt in horseshoes earlier and that’s the whole reason we’re here right now.” Demi replied, causing Nick to laugh.

“I’ll need a rematch before I leave on Saturday.”

Right after the words left his mouth, Nick realized how awkward that was. Here they were, dating, and Nick would be leaving in four days and this was the first time either of them had acknowledged it.

“Well, we’ll have to fit it in at some point this week.”  Demi responded after a small awkward pause.

Neither of them talked the rest of the song, but Nick did like it when she rested her head on his chest.

“I should probably get going. I have to get up early to come back here. I hate that they can’t seem to find more people to hire here.” Demi complained once the song was over.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Nick answered. The two first made a stop at the DJ booth so Demi could pick up the rose she had left there earlier, and then they walked to the parking lot hand in hand.

“Well this is Freda.” Demi said, patting the hood of her small Cavalier.

“Freda?”

“Come on, like you don’t have a name for your car.”

“Lenny.” Nick answered.

“You just made that up, didn’t you?” Nick nodded which made Demi laugh. “Well I like it.”

“Thanks.” There was a pause and then Nick slapped his hands against his thighs. “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Demi nodded. “Arts and crafts?”

“I’ll be there.” Nick smiled down at her.

They both stared at each other until Nick leaned down and kissed her. This kiss was different than the one earlier. Where that kiss in the grass was full of passion and desire, this kiss was filled with promise. All Nick’s worries from early had completely cleared from his mind.

“I really can’t wait for tomorrow. “ Demi said, biting her lip.

“Me too.” Nick planted one more quick kiss on her lips before he watched her slowly step into her car and drive away. As he watched the small, blue car drive away he found himself wondering what the rest of the week would hold for the two of them.


	4. Wednesday

Demi’s lips tingled the entire night which made it hard for her to sleep. That, and the idea of seeing Nick tomorrow and kissing him again made Demi anxious for the next morning. Normally her ride to work is uneventful and involves a lot of screaming at other cars, but the next morning she was wide awake and belting out some 90s classics. 

Nick’s morning was quite similar. He woke up smiling, knowing that he’d be seeing Demi again. There was even enough time for Nick to make everyone a pancake breakfast. Sophie was very pleased with this. She and her uncle finished their food and then headed to the Rec Shelter.

Even though her back was turned to him, Nick recognized Demi instantly. He slowly approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her to slightly jump in surprise. Demi turned and laughed when she saw it was Nick. “Don’t scare me like that again!” She gently slapped his chest.

“Good morning to you too.” Nick replied, then placed a small kiss on her lips.

“I take it the date went well then?” Marissa asked.

Nick scrunched his eyebrows. “You mean Demi hasn’t told you about how awesome it was?”

Marissa laughed. “Oh no, she has. She hasn’t shut up about it really.” Her statement caused Demi to lightly push her.

“Shut up.” Demi jokingly said.

“That’s a bad word!” Sophie chimed in.

“I’ve told you before, Soph, I have a potty mouth.” Demi said with a shrug.

“I like your mouth.” Nick remarked.

Demi blushed. “That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.”

“I like kissing your mouth.” Nick fixed.

“Now that’s better.” Demi kissed him once more.

“I could literally vomit from how adorably corny this is.” Marissa commented, and then proceeded to make gagging noises, making everyone around her laugh.

\----------------------------------------

The art and craft that day was making keychains. Nick was an expert at these since he had been making them ever since he was capable of doing so at camp. It was probably Camp Waterbrook’s most popular arts and crafts project. Countless amounts of people showed up that morning. Demi made her rounds from table to table, but made sure to spend a majority of her time with Nick and Sophie. Nick even helped out since he was more experienced than Demi was which he wasted no opportunity in teasing her about that. Demi did show him how to make a bracelet though out of the same material used to make the keychains.

“I’ll just have my wrist covered in camp made bracelets.” Nick joked as he started his new bracelet.

Once every camper, or so Nick believed it was every camper, got their keychains or bracelets started Chris began to get the supplies for some sort of sport. 

“Whatcha doing, Chris?” Demi called out, following Nick’s gaze.

“Getting the stuff together for kickball.”

“Here, let Nick and I do that and you and Marissa stay up here at the Rec Shelter.” Demi said, walking over to the male counselor and taking the rubber bases out of his hands.

Nick noticed Marissa vigorously shaking her head in refusal at Demi.

“You sure?” Chris asked.

“Definitely.” Demi reassured, trying to hold back her laughter.

Marissa mouthed ‘I hate you’ to Demi and she couldn’t contain her giggles anymore.

“What’s so funny?” Chris asked, looking over his shoulder at Marissa.

“Oh, nothing. Marissa is just making faces.” Demi lied. “She must not want to work with you.” She teased, winking over at her friend.

Marissa’s face was red by this point.

“Oh yeah? Well, too bad because she’s stuck with me now.” Chris looked over his shoulder to look at Marissa again and smiled.

‘You owe me’ Demi mouthed to Marissa before making her way back to Nick. “Come on.”

“Soph, you want to play kickball?” Nick asked, looking down at his niece.

“Will you play?” She asked timidly.

“Of course! When have you known me to turn down playing kickball? Now, let’s go help Demi out.”

\----------------------------------------

“Alright, kiddos, listen up.” Demi announced to the group of kids that had gather at the baseball diamond. Sophie was probably the youngest one in the group and the oldest looked to be around twelve. “We have a special game planned for today. We’re going to have all the kids verse one of my favorite campers.” Demi turned to Nick and waved for him to stand beside her. He obeyed. “This is Nick, and you guys are all going to team up against him and kick his butt, okay?” The kids laughed.

“Whoa, wait. At least let me have MVP Sophie Jonas on my team?” Nick asked.

“Okay, I’ll let you have Sophie.” The five year old ran over to Nick’s side. “But the rest of the kids are playing against you.”

“Oh, they’re so on.” Nick challenged and the game began. Being the smaller team, Demi let Nick and Sophie kick first. Nick let Sophie go first and it took her two times, but she kicked the ball and Demi made an effort to miss it letting Sophie get to first base.

Then it was Nick’s turn to kick. Demi told the kids to go further into the field and then rolled the ball toward Nick. His foot made contact and it soared through the air before hitting the road just past the pitcher’s mound.

“Run, Sophie! Run!” Nick yelled as he bolted toward first base. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Demi picked up the ball and start chasing him. He could see the determination in her eyes and that made him laugh a bit. Then, he felt the rubber ball collide with his back and he fell to the ground just short of first base.

“You’re out!” Demi said in her best umpire voice and the little kids laughed.

“Next time.” Nick playfully threatened as he walked back to the home plate as Sophie got ready for her next kick. One of the little kids caught that kick and soon it was Nick’s turn again. Demi threw him a couple of bad pitches, just to tease him, before she rolled down right down the middle. Nick’s foot made contact and he watched as it soared over all the kid’s heads and then landed in the field. He ran for it as Demi starting yelling at the kids to throw it to her. Nick stuck his tongue out at her as he raced toward third base.

“Keep running, Uncle Nicky!” Sophie shouted from home plate.

He was just about to step on home plate when he felt the ball against his back making him fall forward once again. “Are you shitting me?” Nick asked as he stood back up.

“Language.” Demi said with a triumphant smile on her face. “Oh, and, you’re out in case you didn’t know.”

“That makes three outs! It’s our turn to kick.” One of the older kids in the outfield said.

“Alright, let’s switch. Everyone line up oldest to youngest.” Demi instructed as all the kids rushed to home plate. “No, no, Roger, you’re not the youngest here. You’re the oldest. Now get to the back.”

“Sophie, are you okay being pitcher?” Nick asked, handing her the ball. She nodded as she accepted the ball and made her way to the pitcher’s mound.

Nick took his position in center field and looked at Demi and the rest of the kids. “Nothing’s getting past me.”

“We’ll see about that.” Roger shouted back.

\----------------------------------------

It turned out that a lot of balls made it past Nick throughout the entire game. Twenty seven to be exact because that was the final score: twenty seven to eleven. Demi’s team won.

“So do I have to do something since I lost?” Nick asked as he, Demi, and Sophie each picked up a base and started heading back to the Rec Shelter.

“No, but I get to choose what we do tonight.” Demi answered.

“We’re going out again tonight?”

“Obviously.”

“Well it was hard to tell if you still liked me or not when you were chucking balls at my body all day.” Nick joked.

“Didn’t you ever learn that when a girl’s mean to you it means she likes you?”

“I thought that just meant teasing, not physical pain.”

“Physical pain means she really likes you.”

“So, what does a guy have to do to show her he really likes her back?”

Demi turned to Sophie. “Soph, what do guys do at your school to show you they like you?”

Sophie gave a disgusted look. “I don’t like any guys at my school. I only like One Direction.”

“Well do you think a boy likes you at school?”

The five year old thought for a moment. “One time a boy tried to put glue in my hair but I bit his arm and I got in trouble and he didn’t.”

The older two burst into laughter. “Good thing we’re heading back to the Rec Shelter where there is loads of glue plus glitter I can throw in there.” Nick said.

Nick began to race up the hill and Demi chased him, shouting “Chris! Marissa! Don’t let him near the glue!”

\----------------------------------------

Nick hung around the Rec Shelter all day helping Demi and the other counselors with the kids plus it meant he got to spend more time with Demi. Kevin and Dani made an appearance just to make sure that Sophie was okay. They even brought Paul along and Demi got to meet him for the first time. Sophie was glad to show off her little brother. She even talked about how she hoped her mom had a girl so that she could have a little sister and a little brother. Nick could tell how surprised Dani was at how talkative Sophie was around Demi and he took that as a good sign.

Kevin and Dani didn’t stay too long, but before they left Kevin told Nick that dinner was going to be ready in about an hour or so.

“Would you like to come up for dinner?” Nick asked Demi.

“Uh, I have to take care of some stuff here, but we’re still on for tonight, right?” Demi replied.

“Okay work-a-holic.” Nick teased. He kissed Demi on the cheek. “I’m gonna get going because I probably should be spending some time with my family.”

“You’re still coming to the campfire tonight, right?”

“Of course! I’ll come down once dinner is done.” Nick shouted as he continued walking back to his tent.

With a final wave, Demi watched Nick walk away until he was out of eye sight and then she returned to the Rec Shelter. As she cleaned up some of the crayons that were scattered all over the pavilion Marissa joined her.

“So what’s wrong with going to dinner with his family?” Marissa asked.

“I never got to ask, how was alone time with Chris earlier today?” Demi said, not looking up from her task.

“You’re not going to avoid my question with another question. Now, tell me what’s so wrong with going to dinner with him?”

“Because I don’t want to get too attached to him.” Demi said, throwing her hands up in frustration. She took a deep breath to calm down and then continued cleaning up the area. “I already really like him and I just don’t want this to get too serious before he leaves later this week.” She explained.

Knowing her friend didn’t want to discuss this topic any further, she changed the subject. “No kids came around, so Chris and I just talked. It was nice.” Marissa said with a smile. When Demi turned to her, with a smile on her face as well, Marissa blushed. “He’s cute.”

The two girls squealed and Marissa told Demi all she and Chris had talked about as they finished cleaning the Rec Shelter.

\----------------------------------------

Demi waited around two hours before Nick came back down for the campfire. By that time, a large amount of kids, and some parents chaperoning, had gathered at the fire pit. When she saw Nick approaching, Demi stood from the picnic table she was sitting at and met him halfway. They greeted each other with a kiss.

“What’s that for?” Demi pointed to the case Nick was carrying.

“It’s a campfire, right?” Demi nodded. “Well, it wouldn’t be complete without some sing-a-longs.” Nick tapped the case. “I brought my guitar.”

“I’m sure the kids will love it.” Demi took a hold of his free hand and led him toward the crowd.

Nick was surprised that some of the kids actually knew his name and greeted him as he took a seat next to Demi.

“Where’s Sophie?” Marissa asked. Nick noticed that she and Chris were seated next to each other and he wondered if Demi was a part of that or it just happened.

“She was pretty tired from all our shenanigans today, so she went to bed early.”

“Are you going to serenade us, Nicholas?” Chris asked, smirking.

“If you’d like. I actually wrote you a lovely song, Chris.” Nick joked. Demi and Marissa laughed.

“Play us something, Nick!” Roger demanded and soon the other kids joined in.

“Alright, alright.” Nick pulled the acoustic guitar out of the case as the kids cheered. “Okay, what’s a song you guys would all know?”

Some of the older kids shouted out requests that were too inappropriate for the younger ears in attendance. Nick held back his laughter as he saw some of the parents’ shocked expressions.

“I think I know one that you guys will know. You’ve all seen Disney movies, right?” A majority of the kids nodded and the kids that didn’t were mostly the older ones and Nick figured they didn’t want to admit it because it ‘wasn’t cool.’

Nick began playing “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid. At first, he was singing by himself, but soon Demi and Marissa joined him. When they reached the sha-la-la’s, a handful of kids sang along. By the end of the song, everyone around the fire was singing and laughing to the Disney classic.

“Play another one!”

“Alright, alright, okay. You’ll know this song if you watch Spongebob.”

“What song are you talking about?” Demi asked.

“You’ll get it in just a second.” Nick said as he strummed. “Let’s rather around the campfire and sing our campfire song . . .”

Demi instantly laughed when she recognized the song. She even pretended to be Patrick while Nick sang it. And then he had to sing it a few more times so that the rest of the kids could try and join along. A lot of the older kids tried going faster than Nick, but they couldn’t do it without stumbling over the words. By the time Nick was finished playing it for probably the tenth time, everyone was holding their stomachs as they laughed. There were even tears in Marissa’s eyes which were probably caused by Demi’s hilarious Patrick impersonation. It even made it hard for Nick to get through a couple verses because he was laughing so hard.

Nick played a few more songs while the counselors brought out the marshmallows and roasting sticks. Soon, all the kids had sticky fingers and everyone was enjoying their s’mores. By the time nine o’clock rolled around, a majority of the people had left to either go to the dance or back to their tents for the night. Nick and Demi both tried to help clean up, but Chris and Marissa insisted that they get started on their date and leave the cleaning to them.

“Are you sure you two just don’t want alone time together?” Demi teased, causing Marissa’s cheeks to turn bright red. Luckily it was night time so it was hard to see her blush.

“We just figured you two would want alone time.” Chris responded.

“I’m okay with that idea. You two just don’t get into too much trouble.” Nick said with a wink. He and Demi turned and began walking away.

“Hate you guys.” Marissa called after them.

“Love you too.” Demi shouted back. “What are we doing again?” Demi asked, throwing the hoodie that Nick had brought for her over her head. It smelled like him and that made Demi smile.

“I originally planned for us to do this late night, but-“

“I kicked your butt in horseshoes, so . . .” Demi added, making Nick laugh.

“That, but I was just thinking we’d lie around in a field and look at the stars. If that’s okay with you?”

Demi smiled up at him as she took his hand in hers. “I’d like that very much.”

The two took the scenic route along the lake as Nick told her stories of his time at Camp Waterbrook as a kid. Her favorite was the one where they were crayfishing past curfew and when the cops saw them Joe accidentally, at least he said it was an accident, pushed Nick into the disgusting lake water while the older Jonas boys ran for their campsite. The cops eventually helped Nick out of the water, but they weren’t too thrilled about it Nick recalled.

“I figure we should be safe from curfew since I have a camp counselor with me.”

“Is that the only reason you’re hanging out with me? So you can get some camp perks?” Demi jokingly asked.

“I thought I made that quite obvious.” Nick teased. Demi gently pushed him as the two laughed. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You got to hear all about my childhood here. What about yours?”

“I didn’t start coming here until this year.”

“I meant just your childhood in general.”

Demi looked out at the water. “I don’t really like talking about it.”

“Oh, sorry.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Demi spoke again. “My dad had some serious problems that he never worked out.”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, no.” Demi paused. “I want to.” Nick squeezed her hand and waited for her to go on. “He beat my mom and drank a lot and he had some other problems that he never got help for. My mom finally divorced him and married a really great guy. They had a little girl and she’s the greatest little sister ever. And, just last month, my dad died.”

“Wait, your real dad or your step dad?”

“Biological dad.” Demi corrected.

Nick stopped walking and wrapped Demi in his arms. They stayed locked in the embrace for a while until Nick spoke up. “I’m really touched that you can trust me with that.”

Demi didn’t respond right away. Instead, she enjoyed being in his arms for a second longer. “Do you think we found a spot to lie down yet?”

“Why? Do your feet hurt? Because, if that’s the case . . .” Nick lifted her up and Demi laughed.

“Wait, no! Let me get on your back.” She suggested and Nick set her back down on the ground. She went behind him and jumped on his back. Nick and Demi carried on like this until they approached the middle of the field.

“Here we are m’lady.” Nick said in the worst British accent Demi had ever heard.

“Why thank you, sir.” She said through her laughter.

Nick laid on the grass and Demi joined him. He moved his arm under her head and she enjoyed having the pillow.

“What’s your favorite star?” Demi asked as they looked up at the night sky. It was a clear and it seemed like every star was out for their pleasure.

Nick chuckled. “Oh gee, just one? How could I ever choose?” He kept gazing at the sky until he raised his free hand. “That one.”

“Oh yes. That’s a good one.” Demi joked and they laughed.

Using his free hand once again, Nick dug into his back pocket.

“What are you reaching for?”

“My phone.”

“Are going to take some selfies or something?” Demi joked.

Laughing, Nick shook his head. “No. I have that star gazing app thing and it’ll help us find some constellations.” 

“There’s the Big Dipper.” Demi observed and pointed up at the sky.

“That’s an easy one. I want to find some other ones.” He finally got his phone of his pocket and opened up the app. Demi scooted closer to him to see the screen. “Okay, judging by the app, if we look over to the left we should be seeing Cygnus.”

“Cygnus?”

“The swan. So look for something like a T.”

“You could probably make a million T’s in the sky. I mean, it’s like your very own connect the dots board.”

“And there are a bunch of three stars in a row, but you can tell when you find Orion. There’s Cygnus!” Nick pointed. “See how it looks like a T and then there are some other stars that make the wings full?”

Demi followed Nick’s finger and watched him trace out the shape. “Oh! I see it.”

“And apparently if we look to the right we should find the Hercules constellation . . .” Nick trailed off as he moved the app in that direction.

“The picture on the phone looks like he’s holding a club?”

“So I guess that’s what we look for.” Nick said as he and Demi scanned the night sky.

“Is it that thing that looks sort of like a spider?” Demi asked, pointing in all sorts of directions.

“Maybe . . .” Nick squinted his eyes, as if that would help him see better. “You know what, I think that is it!”

“So, what’s the deal with the swan?”

“What do you mean?” Nick asked as he placed his phone on his chest.

“I know the whole story with Hercules. He went from zero to hero-“

“That’s not the real story.”

“It’s the Disney version and I like it.” Nick laughed at Demi’s statement. “But what’s the swan’s myth or whatever?”

“If I had internet on my phone I’d look it up because I don’t know. That’s an interesting question. What would you make the story?”

Demi thought for a moment. “I’d make her a princess that was turned into a swan.”

“Sounds like a kid’s movie to me, but I like it. Do you think she hooked up with Hercules and that’s why they’re next to each other?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. Weren’t the Greeks obsessed with sex?”

Nick laughed. “I think just Zeus.”

“So maybe she hooked up with Zeus!”

“That’s it!” They both softly laughed until a comfortable silence filled the air.

The next thing Demi remembered was jolting awake. It was still dark, so she couldn’t have been asleep for long. She looked over to her side to see Nick still sleeping, so she lightly shook him. “Nick. Hey, Nick?”

“Five more minutes.” He mumbled.

“Nick!” Demi said, shaking him a little harder. This seemed to do the trick because Nick’s eyes opened and he smiled up at her.

“What time is it?” He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Demi took the phone that was still on his chest and clicked the home button. The screen lit up her face as she read off the time. “11:12 pm.”

“Gosh darn it, we missed 11:11.” Nick playfully complained.

“I have to get going. I mean, I’ll be back here in less than twelve hours.” Demi said as she stood.

“Do you need me to drive you anywhere? Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” Nick asked, standing alongside her.

“No, it’s not like I was drinking. I just need to get home and get some rest before work tomorrow.”

“Well, at least let me walk to back to your car?” Nick gave her puppy dog eyes and there was no way Demi was going to refuse that look.

She took his hand in hers. “I would love that.”


	5. Thursday

The sound of everyone outside the tent woke Nick up the next morning. Thinking he had overslept, Nick quickly jumped out of bed and got dressed. Then he walked outside to find everyone loading the car. “Whoa, we’re not leaving are we?” He asked.

“No way.” Joe answered. “We’re just going to spend the entire day at the beach that’s across the campground.”

“Awesome.” Nick answered. “Need help with anything?”

“Why don’t you pack those bags of charcoal in the van?” Papa Jonas piped in, nodding in the charcoal’s direction.

Nick followed his dad’s motion and noticed three bags of charcoal. He looked back at his dad, raising an eyebrow. “Do we really need that much?”

“Better have more than less than we need.” His dad answered and Nick nodded his head in agreement.

“And there is one more thing,” Kevin said as he walked over to his younger brother with his daughter next to him. “Sophie has a question for you.”

“What’s up, Soph?” Nick asked, smiling down at his niece.

“Can we ask Demi if she wants to come to the beach with us?” The five year old asked.

“Uh, she’s working today, Soph. I don’t know if she can just leave work.”

“Can’t we still go ask her?” 

The little girl was pleading with Nick and he could not reject that. With a sigh, Nick nodded his head. “Yeah, let’s go down to the Rec Shelter and ask her.”

Sophie let out a cheer and ran ahead of Nick.

“You know you don’t have to, Nick.” Kevin reassured.

“Oh please, I’m sure Nick already invited her last night because he’s obsessed with her.” Joe chimed in.

“I did not already invite her.” Nick defended. “And I’m not obsessed with her.”

“Translation: I’m actually in love with her.” Joe continued teasing.

Nick opened his mouth to respond, but seeing his niece about to cross the street without him made Nick realize that he could argue with Joe later about his affections toward 

Demi. Sophie’s safety was more important, as was seeing Demi at the Rec Shelter, so Nick waved off his older brother and began to follow his niece.

\--------------------------------

“There you two are!” Demi greeted the duo with her wide smile when she saw them approaching. She met them halfway and gave Nick a quick kiss.

“You were expecting us?” Nick asked as he followed Demi back to the Rec Shelter.

“Nick, you have been coming here for arts and crafts every morning. Obviously I was expecting you.” Demi responded with a laugh.

“Well, we’re actually not here for arts and crafts today.”

Demi let out a whimper. “But it’s silly putty day and I was gonna put it in your hair.” That statement made Sophie laugh.

“As fun as that would’ve been,” Nick started as he ran a hand through his hair. “We actually came here to ask if you wanted to go to the beach with us today.”

“So will you?” Sophie asked.

“I’d love to, but I have no idea if I can leave-“

“Hey, Chris!” Nick interrupted Demi by shouting at Chris from across all the rows of tables. The guy counselor turned to their direction. “Can Demi come to the beach with us today? I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

“Then I guess she’s going to the beach with you guys.” Chris responded with a laugh.

“Are you sure?” Demi asked, but she was already walking over to her car to grab her bag that had her bathing suit in it.

“Yeah, Marissa and I can handle this here. You guys go have fun.”

“You’re the best!”

“Yeah, Chris, you’re the best!” Sophie chimed in as the three of them began heading back to the group of Jonas cabins.

\--------------------------------

The walk to the Rec Shelter is maybe a five minute walk tops, but it seemed much longer than that to Nick as the trio returned to the group of tents. He had kept thinking how awesome the day was going to be with Demi spending time with his family and that’s when it hit him. She was going to meet all of his family, not just his brothers, but his parents! Was it okay for her to meet them this soon? Were they even official? Should he be suggesting to meet her parents?

“You okay?”

Demi’s voice brought Nick back and he looked over at her. “Huh?”

“You just kinda zoned out over there. You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Worried about me meeting your parents?”

Nick’s eyes widened. “How-“

Demi laughed. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.”

“You seem oddly calm about it though?”

“I’m a good at hiding it. Besides,” Demi takes Nick’s hand in hers. “I have you.”

All of Nick’s worries float all his shoulders and he gives Demi’s hand a squeeze. He leaned in to kiss her, but Sophie interrupted.

“Come on, slow pokes!”

Nick lets out a nervous laugh. “I guess it’s time.” He took a deep breath as they took the final steps toward the rest of his family.

“Guys, guess what? Demi gets to come with us!” Sophie shouted as she ran back to her parents.

“I bet you’re not the only one excited, Soph.” Joe teased with a wink at his younger brother.

Nick shook his head and laughed. “Demi, you remember Joe and Kevin.”

“It’s nice to see you guys again.” Demi greeted with a wave.

“And this is Dani, Kevin’s wife, and the little guy she’s holding is Paul. They don’t have a name for the little one growing inside her yet.”

“I’ve heard so much about you.” Dani said.

“Good things I hope.” Demi glances over at Nick.

“The best. Nick hasn’t said one bad word about you.” Dani explained.

Demi smiled at Nick who was turning red and she giggled at the sight.

“So how far along are you?” Demi asked, nodding her head towards Danielle’s stomach.

“I’m gonna leave you two to talk pregnancy and I’ll help everyone finish packing.” Nick noted and went to join the other Jonas boys.

\--------------------------------

After packing the car and nervously meeting Nick’s parents, the entire family plus Demi drove to the beach. Joe and Sophie were the first to exit the vehicle and race toward the water, having already changed into their bathing suits back at the tents. Nick followed shortly after changing and making sure Demi was comfortable.

Demi watched from the picnic table she shared with Danielle and Blanda as all four Jonas boys played in the water. Joe and Frankie were currently on Nick and Kevin’s shoulders playing chicken, Sophie sat on the beach building a sand castle next to her grandmother who was sunbathing, and Paul was sitting on his mother’s lap. Blanda and Demi were helping shuck corn while Papa Jonas barbequed.

She had been with them maybe an hour at most, but Demi already felt like she was part of the family. Dani was easy to talk to and Demi would see why Blanda and Joe worked so well together.

She was in the middle of a conversation with Dani about the TV show Friends when Sophie approached their table. “Demi, are you ever gonna come swimming?”

“Maybe in a little bit, Soph. I’m liking talking to your mom for a bit.”

Sophie’s face scrunched up at Demi’s statement, as if she was appalled that someone actually found her mom more interesting than her. Demi laughed. “I’ll be there in a little bit, okay?”

“I think it’ll be sooner than a bit.” Nick suddenly shouted as he scooped up Demi and began running towards the water.

“Wait, Nick, no! I’m not even in my swim suit!” Demi screamed in protest.

Nick ignored her and continued running into the water until he falls in, taking both of them under the waves.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Demi exclaimed through her laughter once she broke the water’s surface, and she began to chase Nick through the water.  
\--------------------------------

“You aren’t going to pull out more of your campfire song hits?” Demi teased right before she stuffed another marshmallow into her mouth. After hours at the beach, the Jonas family plus Demi migrated back to their campsite and started a bonfire. Papa and Mama Jonas had gone to bed an hour ago and Frankie just went to join them leaving only Joe, Blanda, Kevin, Dani, Nick, Demi, and Sophie.

“Nah, I only do that when I’m trying to impress cute camp counselors.” Nick answered with a smirk.

Even though her mouth was full of roasted marshmallow, Demi couldn’t resist the face Nick was making and, with an eye roll, leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

“Ew!” Sophie scrunched her face.

“Oh, what’s the problem, Soph?” Nick asked, turning his attention to his niece. “You afraid I won’t have more kisses for you?” He stood up and began slowly walking towards   
Sophie.

“Ew no! Keep away from me!” Sophie commanded with a smile on her face, obviously enjoying her uncle’s game.

“No, get back here, Sophie! I need to kiss you!” And Nick began chasing his niece around the fire pit.

“Hey, hey hey! That’s probably not the smartest idea, you know, with the burning hot fire right here?” Kevin pointed out.

“Alright, Soph. Your dad has a point, even if he is a party pooper.” Nick whispered that last part, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Kevin just rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t you guys come over here and roast marshmallows with me?” Demi inquired.

“Yeah!” Sophie rushed over to the camp counselor and sat on her lap.

“Way to steal my thunder.” Nick teased. “I’m supposed to be her favorite.”

“Things change.” Demi winked.

“Don’t worry, Nick, you’re still my favorite.” Joe jokingly added in.

“It’s nice to see that someone still appreciates me.” Nick walked over to his older brother and sat on his lap. This made everyone around the fire laugh.

“Uncle Nicky, get up! You’re too big!” Sophie exclaimed, causing even more of an uproar among the crowd.

“Uncle Nicky’s gonna need a visit from Elsa because he just got burned!” Kevin joked.

“Oh no, now which one of you is gonna tell me to let it go?” Nick groaned.

“That joke’s a bit of a fixer upper, don’t you think?” Demi answered with a scrunched up face.

“Sophie, stuff a few more marshmallows in Demi’s mouth so she can shut up.” Nick suggested with a smile.

“Uncle Nicky! That’s a bad word!”

Nick threw his hands up in the air. “I give up. I can’t win tonight.” He walked over back to his original spot and sat down.

With their laughter settling down, Kevin and Dani stood up from the fire, Dani holding their little boy that was fast asleep. “Well, on that high note, we’re gonna hit the hay. Come on, Soph.”

The five year old whined. “But I’m not tired!”

“We’ll put on a movie.” Dani responded.

“But I want to stay and hang out with Demi.”

“But not Uncle Nicky, it’s okay.” Nick jokingly complained under his breath. Demi lightly slapped his chest. “But don’t worry about it, guys; we’ll bring her in in a little bit.”

“Yeah, I probably won’t stay for much longer. I still have to drive home and get back her early in the morning tomorrow.” Demi added in.

“Okay, but not too late, guys.” Kevin said before leaning down to give his daughter a quick kiss on the top of her head. “Goodnight Sophie. Love you.”

“Love you too, Daddy.”

“Night everyone.” Dani waved at them before walking back to her tent with her husband.

“Good, now the grown-ups are asleep and we can really party! Right, Soph?” Joe cheered.

“Yeah! Let’s make more s’mores!” Sophie exclaimed.

Barely a half hour later, Sophie was sound asleep on Demi’s lap. “So much for not being tired.” Nick whispered in Demi’s ear. He and Demi smiled down at his niece.

“Yeah, she’s passed out.”

“We probably should take her in now.”

“Good idea. I probably should get going anyway.” Nick made a pouty face at Demi’s statement. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna see me tomorrow.”

“I know, it just sucks.” Nick nodded his head. “Hand her over to me and I’ll take her.” Nick does as he said and then rejoined Demi by the fire. 

She stood up and said her goodbyes to Joe and Blanda before she and Nick began walking back to the parking lot by the Rec Shelter.

“I had so much fun tonight, Nick. Thanks for letting me hang out with your family.” Demi thanked as she took a hold of Nick’s hand.

“It was my pleasure. I’ll use any excuse to hang out with you. And, it still blows me away how good you are with Sophie. I mean, I’ve never seen her get this attached to someone this quickly.”

“Well she’s an amazing girl.” Demi responded.

“You’re amazing.” Nick stated. The two of them stop walking and turn to face each other. “Hey, I was thinking, why don’t you just stay here?” Nick suggested.

“Wait, what?”

“I mean, you have to come back here anyway tomorrow, why not just stay?” Nick’s thumb rubbed the back of Demi’s hand as he waited for her answer.

“Are you sure?”

“More than sure.”

Demi smiled up at him. “Okay.”

\--------------------------------

“I put some of my clothes out on my bed that you can change into.” Nick informed Demi as he stepped out of his tent. “I’ll just be by the fire when you’re done.”

“Okay, thanks.” Demi gave him a quick kiss before stepping into the tent.

Once she was inside, Nick rushed over to the campfire where Joe and Blanda still sat. “Dude, stay in Mom and Dad’s tent tonight.”

“What are you talking about?” Joe asked, taken back by how desperate Nick sounded.

“Demi’s staying the night.”

A smile slowly spread across Joe’s face as he raised his hand. “Nice, man!”

Rolling his eyes, Nick gave his brother a high five. “So will you go in there? Please?”

“Fine, but you owe us.” Joe answered.

“I think Joe has condoms in his pillow, just in case.” Blanda winked.

Blushing, Nick thanked both of them and took a seat by the fire. Demi joined them a few minutes later. His old tied-died Camp Waterbrook shirt looked great on her and it was just big enough to almost hide the pair of boxers she was wearing underneath. He found it difficult to keep his eyes off her as she took a seat next to him.

She placed a hand on his knee and leaned in to kiss him. It was a deep kiss and Nick nearly forgot that his brother was sitting right across from them.

Blanda cleared her throat as she and Joe stood up from their bench.

“Well we’re gonna go to bed.” Joe cheerfully informed.

Demi looked up at them with a confused expression on her face. “But, wait, I just sat back down?”

Blanda faked a yawn. Demi probably didn’t notice because she doesn’t know her that well, but Nick does and he knew exactly what they were doing. Nick made a mental note to thank them later.

“We’re pretty beat from the day at the beach.” Joe lied. He grabbed Blanda’s hand and the two of them began walking to Papa and Mama Jonas’ tent. “Goodnight guys.”

Once the two were out of earshot, Demi turned to Nick. “What was that about?”

“They’re giving us some alone time.” Nick confessed.

Demi smirked. “Good because we’re long overdue for a good make-out session.” She threw her leg over Nick’s body and straddled him before pressing her lips hard against his.

“Maybe we should take this into the tent?” Nick suggested in between kisses.

Demi grunted in what Nick hoped was approval. He easily picked her up, without breaking the kiss, and took them into the tent. He slowly lowered them on the bed so that he was on top. “Better?”

A playful grin appeared on Demi’s face. “Not quite…” She grabbed the hem of Nick’s shirt and slowly lifted it over his head, throwing it to the floor.

“Okay, now,” Nick kissed her. “Can we get back to where we were?”

“Almost…” Demi bit her lip. “Let me just…”

With all her might, Demi attempted to flip them over so that she was on top. She misjudged the size of the bed and the two of them went tumbling to the floor.  
“Oh my God! Are you alright?” Demi asked since Nick she landed on him.

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Luckily the shirt you tore off me broke my fall.”

Demi joined him laughing. “I guess this isn’t going to work out, huh?”

“Probably not. But I’m okay with that.” Nick wraps his arms tighter around Demi.

“Can we at least get back on the bed?” Demi asked, looking up at him. “I mean, I’m loving this position and all, but this concrete floor is not good for my back.” She joked.

“Alright, alright.” Nick let go of her and they both stand up, Nick grabbing his shirt that was on the floor.

Demi placed a hand on Nick’s arm, stopping him from putting the shirt back on. “I like you better without the shirt.” She said with a wink.

“Man, you’re a demanding one.” Nick joked and quickly kissed her.

The two climbed back into the cot and slowly fell asleep in each other’s arms with smiles on their faces.


End file.
